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Gibson Man Sentenced for Defrauding American Red Cross
NEW ORLEANS, LA—SHELDON MATTHEWS, a resident of Gibson, LA, was sentenced in federal court today by U. S. District Judge Helen Berrigan to five years probation after pleading guilty to one count of mail fraud relating to a series of fraudulent applications for financial assistance that he submitted to the American Red Cross after Hurricane Katrina, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten. In addition to the probation, the defendant has been ordered to pay more than $6,000.00 to the Red Cross.
According to court documents, MATTHEWS applied for assistance funds from the Red Cross 11 times during a roughly two month period. The Red Cross made disaster assistance money of up to $1565 available to those affected by the hurricanes of 2005 on a one-time only basis. MATTHEWS repeatedly applied for these funds throughout the early fall of 2005, each time indicating that he had not yet received any money at all from the Red Cross. In all, MATTHEWS fraudulently obtained over $6,600.00 from the American Red Cross.
The case was investigated by the U. S. Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorney Dan Friel.
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